Swag's FanFest Recap

[Swaggasaurus]

It was miserably hot down at the stadium today...and the Oline and Dline were feeling it

 

The pass rushing drills at the start of practice were extra chippy today and guys were going hard. This started with Frank Alexander and Byron Bell during the first match ups when Bell got his helmet knocked off. Bell was pushing Alexander after the whistle and got a little facewash from Alexander in response before the players intervened. The rest of them were giving each other a little extra in the remainder of this drill...I was impressed with the intensity.

 

Speaking of the Dline, Eric Washington to me is the best coach that we have. He is constantly coaching these guys up individually after every rep and shows real appreciation when the respond to his coaching. In particular he is always in Star's ear trying to help him with technique.

 

Minor Defensive Observations:

 

Star- This guy is not going to be dominant from day 1, if you expected him to be then you are a fool. At this point he is someone who offers a little push up the middle and the pass game and can hold the point in the run game. Couple good plays/would be tackles for short gain in the run game today for Star.

 

DE group- Beat the poo out of the OT group on 80% of the plays. Would be sack from Hardy today in team drills, relentless pressure coming out of Addison and Alexander.

 

Back 7- If Blackburn and Klein have to do any starting we will be okay. The are able to find and fill gaps easily and are both downhill players, they shut the door on runs very well. Ditto for Mitchell in the back, he does not wait for the play to come to him, he gets there downhill and fast.

 

Minor Offensive Observations:

 

Aside from Ryan Kalil and sometimes Jordan Gross we suck at pass blocking. Mobley launched at least 5 bad snaps from center today. Amini wasn't in and it showed, left side was piss poor today. I will get to Garry Williams later...

 

Lafell is going to have a good year, the timing between he and Cam is perfect, he is a master of working the zone over the middle. Smoothest routes, no drops today for 11.

 

Armanti- He is quick, but still doesn't show real speed, what he does show is the best route running on the team aside from Lafell and Smith. His routes were very crisp and sharp on a drill, he faked a double move on Josh Thomas before stopping and coming back to the football, throw was late and he caught it just as Thomas arrived.

 

Cam looks as accurate as I have seen him, however in the beginning of team drills stared down Smitty and got easily picked by Flo, can't do that in a game...or practice.

 

Team Stuff

 

Smitty caught a fade for a TD in the endzone with tight coverage from Florence in redzone drill.

 

Cam hit Olsen for a "TD" during redzone drill, Olsen beat Luke on the play, but Mike Mitchell would have laid him out in the real game and was shaking his head "no" as the crowd roared.

 

Mike Mitchell had a good stuff at the 3 yard line on a third down play on a run during redzone drills that garnered praise from McDermott giving the field goal foot gesture.

 

Deangelo Williams had a nice 25 yard gain or so in full team scrimmage. Great seal block on a pull by GARRY WILLIAMS on the play that set him free. (no major fug ups seen from Garry today FWIW)

 

Also nice catches on crossing routes by Smith and Lafell during full team scrimmage, were first down plays.

 

Armanti Edwards caught a great fade in the endzone during team drills with Cap all over him, both players hit the ground, AE held on for the TD.

 

Brandon Williams looked rough early but caught a TD on a deep post working against Lester and then caught a redzone TD when he leaped out of a group of 3 defenders and snagged the ball with ease while working in garbage time with Clausen.

 

TLDR version: Camp hot, Edwards good, Oline bad, 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TrianglePanther]

Absolutely agree on Eric Washington. I went to a practice last week and he really impressed me. High intensity and the guys seem to have a lot of respect for him.

[PrimeTyme]

thanks forr the write up

 

nice report on Gary Williams (fwiw)

[jasonluckydog]

enjoyed the read,,,

 

 

[Lemory]

Pie for your efforts! I agree with your take on Eric Washington, i think he is the best position coach we have. It will be a shame to some day see him go. Good to hear about Garry too. Cant wait for the first Preseason game!

[Pantherman]

At the end of the day I ready to see these guys hit some other guys besides their own team mates. I'm so ready for the preseason to begin this Friday against the Bears.

[Montie_0123]

nice write-up thanks for letting us know what happen at Fan Fest.

[firstdayfan]

Does Armanti look "better" or just typical camp heroics?  It seems like he does this every year but then completely disappears during the preseason and is rarely active during the season.

[SIGCHI222]

Armanti and Brandon Williams should be given the same test.  When the pads are on, and it's not your team-mate, how-do-you-do?

See you all on here next Friday.

 

 

[Frizzy350]

Despite the 'mixed' reviews, I'm hopeful that Star will make a contribution this season. Thus far, it sounds like Short will possibly be giving opposing QBs fits all season long.

 

To be fair we really don't need Star to come in and dominate as early as luke and cam did.  All Star needs to do is be big, strong, occupy blockers and get a little push on passing downs.  We are loaded with pass rushing talent, Star just needs to do dirty work for us.

[Chimera]

FTR, the pick Cam threw, Smitty was the only receiver so of course Cam stared him down.